Air Transformed Moon Safari Into an Immersive Concert Experience

If one of the joys of live music is spontaneity, then the trend of bands playing live through entire albums is a curious imposition upon it. Why go to see a show when you know exactly what the artist will play, word for word and beat for beat? Sometimes, though, a live performance of an album can create a new context for the work, which enhances its greatness. We love to see certain songs reinterpreted live, so why not an entire LP?

This is especially true for records that feel especially at home in, well, your home. Case in point: Moon Safari, the 1998 record by French electronic duo Air, is a chillout classic, a louche and lounge-y, 1960-inspired space-pop record ideal for relaxation á la maison, possibly with a joint in hand. In other words, it’s not really something you’d care to see live. Yet Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoît Dunckel have turned the record into a surprisingly robust, immersive concert experience courtesy of a very slick stage setup and their own overflowing musical talent.

How did they accomplish this? By boxing themselves in – literally.

Dressed in all white, with each half of the duo on either side, flanked by stacks of keyboards and synths and a drummer in the middle, Air played surrounded by a square, white frame that was only a few feet taller than the band’s heads. Inside the box, a system of transparent screens and backlights played the visuals, mostly consisting of bold, matte colors filling the small space. Blood red washed over the band during “Talisman,” and geometric grids of pink light during “All I Need.” For the bright, nostalgic “Ce-matin lÁ ,” the band was bathed in warm, inviting oranges.

The experience felt like a James Turrell installation inside a Sol LeWitt sculpture, yet it also took cues from their countrymen and scene-mates in late ’90s French electronica Daft Punk. A burning sun background was reminiscent of the “Get Lucky” video, and the stage’s intimate dimensions also brought to mind the Robots’ 2014 performance at the Grammys.

The show was split into two halves, with the first set consisting of the Moon Safari record played straight through as advertised. The band’s rendition of the album was faithful, feeling like a true adaptation of their beloved LP, yet the live instrumentation gave the presentation a bold distinctiveness all its own. I loved the replacement of the strings and brass on “Ce-matin lÁ ” with mellotron and other quirky synths, giving a new spin on the summery tune. Elsewhere, tracks like opener “La Femme d’Argent” felt fuller and more dynamic thanks to the added bombast of the drums, while the likes of “Le Voyage de Pénélope” gained more expansiveness and space.

But the real surprises would come after the album’s end, during two extended encores that effectively served as a second half of the show where the band played non-Moon Safari tracks. Quite a few of these were culled from the band’s soundtrack work for Sofia Coppola, and one featured a special guest. Andrew VanWyngarden of MGMT took the stage to join Air as they performed “Playground Love” from the Virgin Suicides soundtrack. The vocalist perfectly channeled the song into something seductive yet sinister.

The real unexpected pleasure for me came during the second encore when the band played their Lost in Translation track “Alone in Kyoto.” Bursts of white light from the back screens punctuated the song, which was breathtaking to hear live. The entire audience seemed to be enraptured by the mostly ambient track – never have I seen the phrase “epic intimacy” so clearly defined. This isn’t to say the show was all pure moods. There were definitely some up-tempo tracks, including one dubsteppy number near the back and “Sexy Boy,” the hit from Moon Safari.

I did have a few minor issues with the show, mostly stemming from the audience of mostly forty-something millennials. (I’m 29 and didn’t see anyone younger than myself at this show.) There was so much leaving and returning to seats that it became a distraction, which is weird considering how much this group complains about knee pain. Still, it wasn’t enough to ruin the evening. Air delivered on the promise of a live Moon Safari in full and then some.

Photos of Air’s Concert at the Fillmore Miami Beach